Hi. My name is Divina from the Philippines and welcome to Sense and Serendipity. My interest in cooking started at the age of 17 but even at an earlier age I’ve been helping my late-father in the kitchen along with my brothers and sisters. My father’s influence was the start of my love for cooking. Although I was trained in a culinary school at Les Roches International School of Hotel Management in Switzerland and at Dubrulle Culinary Institute in Canada to become a professional cook, I gave up pursuing my career to become a professional world-class chef. When my father was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer last June 2003, I stopped working to become my father’s full-time caregiver for four years until he passed away. Within those years, my curiosity for health and nutrition came back to life. I learned health and nutrition in a different perspective most especially when my father stayed at the hospital for 14 months. I realized that health is not just about the food that we eat, but the air we breathe, the water we drink, the thoughts we think and the relationships that we have. Food encompasses all aspects of our life and it’s a cycle that cannot be broken but a continuous series of events that has to be maintained.
I cook, write, and photograph everything on this blog. Through this blog, I’ve discovered talents and skills that I thought I never had before. I’ve learned that I love photography while my friend noticed that I write beautifully. While my passion for cooking, nutrition and photography is evident for most people, I do have frustrated dreams such as becoming a professional dancer, violinist and a pilates teacher. I have a lot of dreams in life(isn’t everybody?) and one of them of them is to have my own cookbook published internationally.
I also completed the Natural Nutrition Program at Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and obtained my Registered Holistic Nutrition designation and currently finishing the Advanced Nutrition Program. I am also presently teaching at the International Culinary Arts Academy of Cebu and would like to continue my journey with whole foods and holistic nutrition and might pursue a career in professional photography.
About Sense and Serendipity
The origin of this blog dates back when I wanted to accomplished something for myself after taking care of my late-father for almost four years. This blog was an encouragement of a friend who asks me to start blogging my kitchen experiments which turned out to be something more. This blog is about my passion for food and cooking, about health and nutrition combined together which focuses on the quality of the food rather than the rigid theories behind it.
Sense and Serendipity is part food, part health and nutrition, and part life. I’ve been known for healthy recipes by other food bloggers. But the word healthy would mean different to many people. The focus of this blog would be on fresh and holistic approach to health and nutrition by cooking with whole, natural and real foods.
Behind the Blog Name
I wanted to choose a blog name that doesn’t relate to health and nutrition but a word or a blog name what would relate to our whole being. The first thing that came to my mind is the word “sense” which is the perfect word because of the involvement of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch in food and cooking. I always want people to be sensual when they cook and eat. But I needed another word to complete the title and “sensibility” was the next word because of its association with the movie: Sense and Sensibility. But it still doesn’t make sense and I started writing phrases that would make a great title. Some of them are corny while the others are too formal. So, I went back to the word “sensibility”. And the only word that slightly rhymes is “serendipity” which is a word that I absolutely love (also love the movie).
Serendipity is finding something valuable or delightful when you are not looking for it. For me, it also means being at the right place, at the right time and at the right moment whether in your career, relationships, family and life in general. These are chance meetings and refreshing encounters in unexpected moment. It’s unrehearsed and it’s full of good surprises. And it could happen to food as well.
Contact
If you have any questions, suggestions and other comments, you can contact me at:
If you have any questions, suggestions and other comments, you can contact me at:
divina.pe1176 [at] gmail [dot] com.
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